Abstract:

This study aimed at measuring the impact of automation on agricultural information services in the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) with a view to identify problems and make recommendations for the improvement of automated information services. The objectives of the study were: to establish the means through which NARO staff offer their information services by way of automation, to establish clients' attitudes towards the way they receive automated information services, to identify problems related to automated information services, and to suggest possible recommendations for overcoming problems related to automated information services. To achieve the above, personal interviews, observations and discussions were conducted to collect data from Kawanda and Namulonge. The findings of the study indicated that librarians carried out most of their library routines with the aid of computers. The librarians further expressed the need for a better or modernised automated information service system. Agricultural researchers wanted current and updated agricultural information of which most of it was meant by electronic resources, especially CDs. Most problems faced by NARO's information service system were due to lack of enough funds. Conclusions and recommendations summed up the study with an illustration that shows a proposed automated agricultural information system for NARO.